How the Oak Tree got into the Acorn

While gardening at the weekend I found this! It caused much excitement in our house as my little botanist has been collecting acorns for her nature table. How fantastic to see how a giant oak tree starts its epic journey from a tiny acorn!

It's been wonderful for her to study this seedling & observe the whole structure of the plant from roots to leaves, & to think about what happens to the plant above & below the ground.

After finding this we decided to do a little more 'digging' & discovered a few facts about

acorns & great oaks!

1. Acorns germinate best when away from their parent tree (as there is more sunlight) & it's thanks to birds, squirrels & other rodents who disperse the acorns away from the mother tree that they have a chance to sprout.

2. When the acorn begins to germinate it grows a main root called a 'tap root' which pushes deep down into the soil. As this grows it produces a shoot which grows upwards & this becomes the seedling.

3. If the seedling is left to grow it will develop into a sapling after 4-5 years.

4. The sapling then grows into a tree, & after 40 years it produces its own acorns.